Reading processing apparatus, server apparatus, reading processing system, and method of controlling reading processing apparatus

Abstract

A reading processing apparatus includes an obtaining device configured to obtain a picked-up image in which an image of a display device provided with at least two color display portions is picked up, and an estimation device configured to estimate an elapsed time elapsed since a start of exposure of the display device to an environment that has a predetermined environment temperature, based on the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device. When the at least two color display portions are irradiated with light in a predetermined wavelength range, respective colors of the at least two color display portions fade with time at color fading rates different from each other and dependent on an ambient temperature.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A reading processing apparatus, comprising:
 an obtaining device configured to obtain a picked-up image in which an image of a display device provided with at least two color display portions is picked up; and   an estimation device configured to estimate an elapsed time elapsed since a start of exposure of the display device to an environment that has a predetermined environment temperature, based on the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device,   wherein, when the at least two color display portions are irradiated with light in a predetermined wavelength range, respective colors of the at least two color display portions fade with time at color fading rates different from each other and dependent on an ambient temperature.   
     
     
         2 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the estimation device is configured to estimate an actual environment temperature of the environment as well as the elapsed time elapsed since the start of exposure of the display device to the environment, based on the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device. 
     
     
         3 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the at least two color display portions include a first color display portion and a second color display portion, which differs from the first color display portion,   wherein the reading processing apparatus further comprises a calculator configured to calculate, from the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device, a value based on a color of the first color display portion as a first value, and a value based on a color of the second color display portion as a second value, and   wherein the estimation device is configured to estimate the elapsed time and the actual environment temperature based on the first value and the second value, which are calculated by the calculator.   
     
     
         4 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the calculator is configured to calculate, based on the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device, a color fading rate of the color of the first color display portion as the first value, and a color fading rate of the color of the second color display portion as the second value. 
     
     
         5 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the calculator is configured to calculate, based on the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device, a color difference between the color of the first color display portion and a reference color as a first color difference, and a color difference between the color of the second color display portion and the reference color as a second color difference, calculate the color fading rate of the color of the first color display portion based on the calculated first color difference, and calculate the color fading rate of the color of the second color display portion based on the calculated second color difference. 
     
     
         6 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 5 , further comprising a storage configured to store reference color information, which indicates the reference color,
 wherein the calculator is configured to read out the reference color information out of the storage, and calculate, based on the read reference color information, the color fading rate of the color of the first color display portion and the color fading rate of the color of the second color display portion.   
     
     
         7 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein the display device is further provided with a reference color display portion configured to display the reference color, and   wherein the calculator is configured to detect the reference color that is displayed in the reference color display portion, based on the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device.   
     
     
         8 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the estimation device is configured to estimate the elapsed time and the actual environment temperature, based on the first value and the second value, which are calculated by the calculator, and on the first association information and the second association information,   wherein the first association information includes first value information indicating the first value, environment temperature information indicating the environment temperature, elapsed time information indicating the elapsed time, and information that associates the environment temperature information and the elapsed time information for each piece of the first value information, and   wherein the second association information includes second value information indicating the second value, environment temperature information indicating the environment temperature, elapsed time information indicating the elapsed time, and information that associates the environment temperature information and the elapsed time information for each piece of the second value information.   
     
     
         9 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 8 ,
 wherein the first association information includes a table that associates the environment temperature and the elapsed time for each value of the first value, and   wherein the second association information includes a table that associates the environment temperature and the elapsed time for each value of the second value.   
     
     
         10 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 8 ,
 wherein the first association information includes a function that represents a dependency relation between the first value, the environment temperature, and the elapsed time, and   wherein the second association information includes a function that represents a dependency relation between the second value, the environment temperature, and the elapsed time.   
     
     
         11 . The reading processing apparatus according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the estimation device is configured to estimate the elapsed time and the actual environment temperature, based on the first value and the second value, which are calculated by the calculator, and on the first association information and the second association information,   wherein the first association information includes first value information indicating the first value, environment temperature information indicating the environment temperature, elapsed time information indicating the elapsed time, and information that associates the environment temperature information and the elapsed time information for each piece of the first value information, and   wherein the second association information includes second value information indicating the second value, environment temperature information indicating the environment temperature, elapsed time information indicating the elapsed time, and information that associates the environment temperature information and the elapsed time information for each piece of the second value information.   
     
     
         12 . A server apparatus, comprising:
 an obtaining device configured to obtain, from a reading processing apparatus, a picked-up image in which an image of a display device provided with at least two color display portions is picked up;   an estimation device configured to estimate an elapsed time elapsed since a start of exposure of the display device to an environment that has a predetermined environment temperature, based on the picked-up image obtained by the obtaining device; and   a communicator configured to output, to the reading processing apparatus, elapsed time information, which indicates the elapsed time estimated by the estimation device,   wherein, when the at least two color display portions are irradiated with light in a predetermined wavelength range, respective colors of the at least two color display portions fade with time at color fading rates different from each other and dependent on an ambient temperature.   
     
     
         13 . A reading processing system, comprising:
 a reading processing apparatus; and   a server apparatus,   the reading processing apparatus including:   an image pickup controller configured to control an image pickup device so that the image pickup device picks up an image of a range in which a display device provided with at least two color display portions is included;   a first obtaining device configured to obtain the picked-up image picked up by the image pickup device from the image pickup device; and   a communicator configured to output the picked-up image obtained by the first obtaining device to the server apparatus,   the server apparatus including:
 a second obtaining device configured to obtain the picked-up image from the reading processing apparatus; 
 an estimation device configured to estimate an elapsed time elapsed since a start of exposure of the display device to an environment that has a predetermined environment temperature, based on the picked-up image obtained by the second obtaining device; and 
 a communicator configured to output, to the reading processing apparatus, elapsed time information, which indicates the elapsed time estimated by the estimation device, and 
   wherein, when the at least two color display portions are irradiated with light in a predetermined wavelength range, respective colors of the at least two color display portions fade with time at color fading rates different from each other and dependent on an ambient temperature.   
     
     
         14 . A method of controlling a reading processing apparatus, the method comprising:
 obtaining a picked-up image in which an image of a display device provided with at least two color display portions is picked up; and   estimating an elapsed time elapsed since a start of exposure of the display device to an environment that has a predetermined environment temperature, based on the picked-up image obtained in the obtaining a picked-up image,   wherein, when the at least two color display portions are irradiated with light in a predetermined wavelength range, respective colors of the at least two color display portions fade with time at color fading rates different from each other and dependent on an ambient temperature.